5 hits and 5 misses from VP debate

1. “With all due respect that’s a bunch of malarkey.” Right off the bat, Biden’s firm riposte set the tone for the debate, that he would fight back, that unlike President Obama in the first debate, he was going to call his opponent on what he saw as fact-stretching. He came across as strong, plausible and reasonable. Advantage: Biden.

2. Biden goes full pit bull. A few minutes later, Biden hit another gear: The 47 percent. Ryan’s requests for stimulus money for Wisconsin companies. “Stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something. Show me a policy.” “They talk about this Great Recession as though it fell from the sky.” The vice president knew he needed to attack, and he did. Advantage: Biden.

3. “If you don’t have a good record to run on, you paint your opponent as someone to run from.” Finally, Ryan got to broken promises in the Obama administration. One of his strongest points of argument. It came too late to shift the dynamic of the debate overall, but it was well-articulated. Advantage: Ryan.

4. The poise factor. Biden seemed sure of himself, at ease, laughing, confident. Ryan seemed discomfited, irritated, defensive — even on the budget and entitlements, which is his wheelhouse. Advantage:Biden.

5. Better close. Biden’s closing statement was the weakest part of his presentation. Ryan was strongest at the end, recovering his equilibrium, speaking slowly and cogently. Advantage: Ryan.

Misses:

1. A nuclear physicist he ain’t. In the Iran conversation, Joe Biden began to gabble about how fissile material becomes a bomb. He pulled out of it but not before he began to sound just a little weird. Advantage: Ryan.

2. Ryan on fast forward. Meanwhile, Ryan talked faster and faster the more he was challenged. He was fine as long as he was sticking to stump speech points but he had a lot harder time responding to challenges. On entitlements, Biden spoke directly to seniors repeatedly. Ryan, relying heavily on statistics, sounded like a smart-mouthed kid explaining why his grandfather just doesn’t get it. Advantage: Biden.

3. Still no specifics. Ryan was under pressure tonight to come up with specifics on how the Romney-Ryan tax plan could actually pencil out. Given repeated opportunities, Ryan ducked and sidestepped and tried to change the subject. Major fail. Advantage: Biden.

4. Abortion. Ryan, after sidestepping the fact that he once supported banning abortions for rape victims, used the code for pushing for legislation to ban abortion: “We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision.” Biden, for once not grinning, hit the religion and abortion question out of the park by comparison. Advantage: Biden.

5. Foreign policy facts. Ryan seemed one level deep, returning to the stock talking points time and again. Biden evinced a far more comprehensive knowledge of Afghanistan, Syria, Iran. HIS wheelhouse. And Ryan was finally forced to say on Syria that he agrees with what the administration is currently doing. Advantage: Biden.